Philip Tattaglia
Phillip Tattaglia was the head of the Tattaglia crime family. Biography Tattaglia was the head of one of New York's Five Families. Although his primary business was prostitution, he was the first to support Virgil Sollozzo's heroin connection, and went to war with the Corleone family after they refused to lend their political and police protection to the enterprise. He was known to be somewhat of an irritation to the other Dons, and was constantly complaining about the police crackdowns, employment problems and high costs that his businesses provided. For this reason, even when he was almost victorious during the Five Families War, Tattaglia received little respect. He was known to have something of a rivalry with Vito Corleone, which led to Tattaglia's attack on Little Italy in the mid-Forties, an attack which led to his seizing control of the borough. The Five Families War When Virgil Sollozzo arrived in New York, the Tattaglia family backed his operations, but required the political connections of Vito Corleone for everything to run smoothly. When Vito politely turned Sollozzo down, the lines were drawn and war was inevitable. Tattaglia's family struck first, claiming the life of notorious enforcer Luca Brasi, but their further attacks floundered, an assassination attempt on Vito Corleone serving only to hospitalise him. Tattaglia was dealt a blow when the protracted and bloody conflict claimed the life of his son, Bruno Tattaglia as well as crippling most of his businesses and eliminating his key associates, including Sollozzo. Tattaglia's Vengeance make peace.]] To this end, Tattaglia made an alliance with Emilio Barzini, which resulted in the death of Santino Corleone, who had masterminded the attacks and was close to winning the war. Rising from his sick bed, Vito Corleone hastily called a sit-down with the members of the Commission. However, at this meeting, Tattaglia tellingly insisted that Don Corleone guarantee not to break the peace. After conceding to his demands, Corleone realized that the lowly "pimp" had been the front for a plan masterminded by Don Emilio Barzini, to bring down the Corleones, divide the spoils amongst the Five Families, and embrace the lucrative heroin trade unopposed. Demise Eventually, Tattaglia suffered the same fate as his fellow conspirators; he was in bed with a prostitute at the St. Sebastian Hotel when Rocco Lampone and Aldo Trapani, acting on the orders of Michael Corleone, burst in and riddled them with machine gun fire. His last words were to denounce Don Barzini as the mastermind behind the operation. He was succeeded by his younger brother Rico. Personality and traits .]] Phillip Tattaglia was described as a sixty-year-old dandy and woman-chaser who had ample opportunity to indulge his weakness. His personality was unpleasant to others. He was a whiner, always complaining of the costs in his family business, so he would often rant on to audiences unsympathetic and contemptuous. He relied on the help of stronger men like Virgil Sollozzo and Emilio Barzini, as well as his own sons, to keep him afloat. Despite this, Tattaglia had some cunning and the foresight to see the money that could be made from the drugs trade. Notes and references Tattaglia, Phillip Category: Tattaglias Category:Deceased